April 17, 2002
Once or twice a year, Bill Witt, an engineer at Lucent Technologies,
teaches an American Red Cross first aid and CPR course that includes
how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) an
electronic device used to restore a heart's normal rhythm in
the event of sudden cardiac arrest. Bill is also on the Lucent
Indian Hill Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) and teaches
team members how to use AEDs. But on January 11, 2001, Witt's
skills would be put to the test following an unusual chain of
events at the airport.
Following an all-day meeting in Chicago, Witt and a couple
of his colleagues decided to put themselves on standby for an
earlier flight out of Chicago. When the earlier flight arrived,
the airline began reading off the names of standby passengers
to board the flight, when the computer system crashed.
Without computer access, the airline did not have access to
the standby names and had to work out the issue on a first-come,
first-serve basis. After boarding some standby passengers, they
announced there was no more room, leaving Witt and his colleague
Craig Schilder out of luck and waiting for their originally booked
flight.
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William Witt, 43, is a volunteer Red Cross
instructor and teaches CPR and first aid to co-workers at Lucent
Technologies.
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